The temperature at race time, 8:30am was probably high 70s, low 80s with no breeze and everyone was sweating just standing around waiting for the start of the race. This was one of the smallest races I have ever ran but it was also one of the toughest. I had checked the course map before the race and I knew that it was going to be difficult. The elevation started a bit under 1500 feet and the course topped out around 3000'.
After running the Old Coast Road the week before everyone kept telling me that I would be ready because Old Coast was so hard. None of these people had the chance to run this race. The hills that lead the field up to the 6.2 mile mark at the peak of this course were straight up and every time you thought you were getting to the top the trail would turn and go even higher. The trails would intermittently level off or even turn the other way and give us a breather on a downhill but basically the first 6 miles in the now 90 degree heat was one of the toughest parts of a race I've ever experienced.
Again this was a small race, so small in fact that the water stations were just tables with water coolers and cups that we had to get ourselves. There were full aid stations as well that had not only water but fruit, trail-mix, and other goodies. There were probably only 15 of us running the half and it wasn't even a timed race. It was like going out with a bunch of friends for a trail run...only I had to pay to do it.
It was a very humbling experience as I again realized how out of shape I am when it comes to hills. Even though I can go out and run for 3-4 hours at a time when it comes to these insanely steep inclines I've got nothing to offer. I was running with one guy for the first half of the race and we thought we were doing really well until out of nowhere this guy in a green shirt came trotting past us. He was taking very small steps and was obviously a very experienced trail runner. I couldn't make it up some of these hills without walking parts of them. As for the downhills, which I normally love and take advantage of, there weren't as many as I had anticipated. There were short steep hills and I think the longest downhill was about a mile or so but then they'd level off or even start back up again. Anyways, by mile 11 I was toast and the miles just wouldn't go by fast enough. I finally finished two hours later in 4th place unhappy and quite injured (achilles) but it just taught me that I need to train harder and keep hitting the [real] hills if I want to get better.
No races coming up until September 17th, the Tough Mudder in Tahoe. I've gotta focus on getting healthy before I can start racing again. I'll be taking the next month off from running since I can't really walk at the moment and then I'm going home for 11 days. When I get back I'm going to start ocean swimming (just bought my wet suit!) and that'll help get my cardio back up before I start training again. Easy training will start at the beginning of August and I'll pick things up depending on how the leg feels.
Run every race like it's your last!
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